tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858936825205287587.post9018649518719887860..comments2023-10-09T02:23:07.545-05:00Comments on Bike Walk Tennessee: Knox County Pedestrian struck twice, killed near her homeAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18183903690670393144noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858936825205287587.post-76642665471831270942010-11-02T15:53:08.593-05:002010-11-02T15:53:08.593-05:00The entire issue of fatal car vs. pedestrian/cycli...The entire issue of fatal car vs. pedestrian/cyclist interaction is a tough one. It is clear that society as a whole and much of law enforcement consider a dead cyclist or pedestrian as having got what they deserved for daring to be on a road used by motor vehicles. There is more sympathy for the deceased if the driver can be proven to be impaired in some way. Except for immediate quantitative alcohol and drug testing this is difficult to prove. As an ER physician I have witnessed cases of motor vehicle crashes involving two automobiles with fatalities in which the driver was obviously intoxicated but not tested. The bias toward the living is not limited to pedestrian and cyclist fatalities except it is always us who are the dead. <br /><br />The only way I see to correct this would be to consider any driver killing someone as having committed vehicular homicide and then varying the punishment according to culpability. That would be a hard sell and violate the concept of innocent until proven guilty. The final solution will come when we end the tyranny of speed so that walking and cycling become accepted uses of the roadways. <br /><br />As a practical matter the best we as an organization can do is assure that someone calls the agencies responsible for investigating these events to encourage a serious effort.coastdownhillshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15272000239450016018noreply@blogger.com